Are My Feet Finally Grounded? Am I grounded?
by CrazyBade
Summary: That was the first perk Maya thought of when she was 6 years old after stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. Now of course, Riley never stole that cookie. Why would she have? She didn't need too. Riley didn't need to waste her time finding perks about her own mother, Topanga, not caring about her just so she'd feel slightly better!


_You're grounded_

Maya froze.

The blonde's first _intentional_ reaction was a quick, swift shake of her head as she stared at the two in total disbelief. "You're kidding?"

Yes! It was a legitimate question coming from her. Maya was sure that her mom was just playing some twisted game with her because…well because Maya Hart getting grounded just _didn't_ happen! It _never_ happened and…and Maya was damn sure that it never would. However, as seconds passed without Maya noticing an "I'm just messing with you" smile on her mother's face, the blonde was beginning to grow a bit nervous with the situation.

 _Is this some sick parody of an episode of Full House or something? What the actual hell!_

The blonde teen cocked her hip to the side as she waited for even the slightest crack of a giggle to show in her mom's stern facial expression.

 _This still must be some kind of_ _ **sick**_ _joke! I'm_ _ **Maya Hart!**_ _I'm the girl that_ _ **never**_ _gets grounded! I have_ _ **never**_ _gotten grounded before! I_ _ **don't**_ _want to be grounded! You want to_ _ **bet**_ _how much I'm_ _ **not**_ _getting grounded mother? There is no way in hell that me,_ _ **Maya Hart**_ _, is grounded! You…you're_ _ **lying**_ _! I'm_ _ **not**_ _grounded. You_ _ **can't**_ _ground me! I_ _ **can't**_ _get grounded!_

Maya's thoughts were beginning to go erratic as she kept her blue eyes on her mom and Shawn. "You…you can't ground me!" The blonde exclaimed in a loud voice to her mother as she straightened her back. No longer cocking her hip with attitude, Maya pointed at them as she shook her head in denial. Her messy blonde locks smacked against the side of her face with each astounded shake of her head. "I…I'm not grounded! I can't be grounded!" It seemed like she was trying to convince herself more than she was them though.

 _I'm…I'm like a_ _ **stray dog**_ _! I don't get_ _ **grounded**_ _. I…I go_ _ **wherever**_ _I want_ _ **whenever**_ _I want as I please! Yeah, I'm…I'm like that stray dog you sometimes see on the streets and other times in people's yards looking for food. I…I don't have an actual_ _ **hom**_ _e! Sure, I sleep here_ _ **sometimes**_ _but my mom is usually_ _ **never**_ _around! Hell, I spend more time at the_ _ **Matthews**_ _then I do here!_

Stomping her foot in defiance, Maya smirked. "Nope!" She shook her head once more as her eyes turned into the shade of a chilled ice-blue. "I…I don't get grounded!"

 _Oh, and who does Shawn think he is;_ _ **my father**_ _? We...we_ _ **agreed**_ _on there being no title to describe us! We_ _ **agreed**_ _on there being_ _ **no**_ _terms! Shawn…Shawn is_ _ **not**_ _my_ _ **father**_ _! He…he_ _ **can't**_ _ground me!_

"Look," Maya turned her frosty-blue colored eyes to Shawn. "I don't have a father!" She snapped, pausing. "Oh, and we agreed on there being no **terms** between us!" She hissed at him. "Who do you think you are?"

"You can't ground me!"

Still though, Maya couldn't shake that same lone thought in her head.

 _Am…am I_ _ **grounded**_ _?_

 _Did I get_ _ **grounded**_ _?_

 _What…what does_ _ **grounded**_ _even_ _ **mean**_ _?_

Another thought circled in her mind. Only this thought seemed to make Maya want to smile.

 _Is my mom_ __ _starting to care enough about me_ __ _to push a_ _ **grounding**_ _?_

For some reason that she couldn't explain, Maya felt a certain emotion settle in her stomach. It was something that she wasn't used to feeling very much. 

It dawned on Maya that the feeling was that of **relief.**

 _Is_ _ **my**_ _mom becoming my own_ __ _Topanga? Is my_ __ _mom grounding me for something that I did wrong_ __ _like Topanga would do to Riles?_

Maya scrunched her smooth, dark-brown eyebrows together in wonder as her mind thought back to just a year ago. Pushing a strand of blonde hair out of her face, a thoughtful look replaced her earlier one of aggravation. She remembered the time when Josh, Uncle Boing to her, got invited to an NYU college party before the start of summer. It obviously wasn't what she wanted to think about at all. It wasn't even what this situation was about but she couldn't help it because the drastic thing she did tied up with how she felt for him

The blonde remembered feeling so depressed, learning that he actually got invited by a couple of woman in college. Maya remembered how hurt she felt when she took in his hopeful, excited face. That was obviously just some **crush** though, right? See, the blonde didn't seem to think so back then. The teen felt like what she felt for him was pure **love** and to an extent it was. She loved him. Maya looked up to him. How was she supposed to let Josh leave her for another girl? After all, her father left her and her mother for another girl! Maya wasn't about to let that happen. Josh was too important to her.

It was then that Maya remembered the outrageous thing that she did. She remembered sneaking out at night and convincing her best friend to tag along with her. She remembered Riley warning her that it wasn't a good idea; that she would get in trouble. Maya's formed a sad frown as she recalled what she said to her.

 _Look, I'm not you, Riles. You have a mother who doesn't think twice about grounding you. My mom wouldn't care if I stuck out or something. Your relationship with your mother and my relationship with mine is extremely different. You need to understand that, Riles. You need to understand that I, Maya Hart, doesn't get grounded. You do!_

Maya remembered that sly chuckle that she let out straight after saying that to her, almost a little too visually even. It was one of disgust. It sounded conniving to her, almost like she carried a sense of pride over the fact that her mother never bothered to ground her. Maya never allowed herself to wish for a grounding from her mom to show that she cared because …well because that hurt too much. It was much easier to believe that being wild, that being able to do whatever you want was better because…well because that didn't hurt as much.

It's the survival of life.

It's the way you protect yourself.

It's the way Maya protected herself.

Maya just wasn't going to wish for something that she knew would never happen. It would only cause her pain in the end. That's why instead she learned to embrace and deal with everything head on. She learned to embrace the **perks** of not having a real mother around who cared, even if those **perks** were only figments of her **imagination**.

 _Riles, I get away with stuff that you could never. That is the perk of not having a mother around very much._

That was the first perk Maya thought of when she was 6 years old after stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. Now of course, Riley never stole that cookie. Why would she have? She didn't need too. Riley didn't need to waste her time finding perks about her own mother, **Topanga** , not caring about her just so she'd feel **slightly** better!

Blinking, Maya pulled herself out of that flashback. Biting the inside of her cheek to stop the tears from falling, she looked up at the clock above the mirror on the wall. She was surprised to find out that it was only 12:05. Maya could have sworn that she returned to the house at 12:00. Has it only been 5 minutes? The emotional strain pulling on Maya made it feel like she's been standing there in her thoughts and flashbacks for days and weeks on end.

 _I…I just don't understand. I don't know how to handle this right now. I…I mean I spent_ _ **years**_ _thinking that you just_ _ **didn't**_ _care about me. I…I actually spent_ _ **time**_ _trying to come up with some sick_ _ **perks**_ _about how having a mother who_ _ **doesn't**_ _care about you could be a_ _ **good**_ _thing! What child should have to do something like that? Oh, and only so I could feel_ _ **slightly**_ _better! Oh, and now you think you have the actual_ _ **right**_ _to ground me. I fucking don't think so!_

Maya knew that she should be saying all of this to her mom.

She shouldn't be holding it inside her. Maya just couldn't find the strength inside her to scream anymore. So the only thing that Maya had the strength to say that moment was this,

"You…you can't do this to me." It was said in such a distraught, tired voice, lacking any type of strength that it scared even Maya herself.

Sure, to anyone if would sound like Maya was defiant. It would sound like she was telling her mom that she's wasn't gonna get grounded anytime soon. However, now it wasn't even about getting grounded.

At least it wasn't to Maya anymore.


End file.
